The pictures in this article are of Mt. St Helens, in southern Washington state. I lived in Tacoma, WA. at the time of that eruption and could see the ash cloud as it rose and traveled east. We were approximately 50+ miles to the northwest. While the wind pattern was predominantly eastward, we did get a very light sprinkling of ash, visible on plants and vehicles.

The author relates the affect of the 1816 eruption of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia. Mt. St Helens is used for comparison.

As a prepper, I do track this threat because of the long term impact on the world. As noted in the article title, most of the world lost an entire growing season (not the whole world, but most of it). In addition, those areas which felt the most ash deposits lost several years of crop production. This gives you some idea of how much food stock might be necessary to survive a Volcanic Winter event... At least a full year and perhaps multiple years.

In terms of prepper plans, I think having a greenhouse, with artificial lighting, could be very beneficial. Of course this raises the question of fuel for a generator to run the lights... A larger solar array with as suitable battery bank might reduce the amount of fuel needed. Expect less light for the solar panels, but that is why a larger set of panels in better.

The probability of such an event; Volcanic Winter, is perhaps higher than we plan for... It has been 202 years since Mt. Tambora and 38 years since St. Helens. This event cycle is multiple generations in length, but very unpredictable. We have almost 2 generations (20 years each) since St. Helens and over 20 generations since Mt. Tambora. That means we have a very large number of people who have no recollection of the event.

My own Threat Assessment Danger Level remains low for this particular threat, in spite of the articles which try to push the "Fear and Anxiety" button about Volcanic Winter. That does NOT mean the Danger is non-existent...

So, I track the news reports on areas like the Yellowstone caldera and the Alaskan volcanic chain. There rest of the world has several other likely volcanoes which could product an eruption of enough size to impact the world weather.

Prepping is a necessary mindset, particularly Before we reach a crisis...
PS: Just say No to social media.

Interesting article. I would put this on the list with disruptions in food supplies as a fairly high priority. There is no real telling if or when this might happen, but a years worth of stored food might help weather the storm.